we had to go off grid for a time, time and half a time as we thought we had been outed.
fortunately it was a false alarm, but it was a stressful time.
i asked for my original diary thread to be deleted in case there could be anything on there to identlfy mrs smith and i. i am always very careful when posting, and am sure there was nothing on there, but felt it best to have it removed in order to be as cautious as a dove.
Don't know how I missed this, but it was a great read Winston. Thank you.
I was able to relate to several things you said. Though having only reached the point of MS, there was plenty of evidence, as well as things elders I trusted said to me, that showed something is seriously wrong in the JW org. That woke me up, amongst other things.
Thanks again!
CoC
in light of the shooting yesterday the question needs to be asked (maybe rhetorically).
what has god done to show he cares about mankind?
please dont be snippy, just be nice.. hey we deserve better dont we?.
in light of the shooting yesterday the question needs to be asked (maybe rhetorically).
what has god done to show he cares about mankind?
please dont be snippy, just be nice.. hey we deserve better dont we?.
Allowed too many to die. And for what.....................?
one the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.
i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.
.
I wrote the following to someone here via PM a while ago. And I can say that what has been said so far in this thread about Bethel is spot on. They are things I noticed in my short stay there.
"One of my first things at Bethel, at 19 years old, was seeing a bit of a double standard. At Patterson I got a lot of opportunities to see GB members. The one thing I questioned to myself was the way I saw them around female visitors. One in particular, Lyman Swingle, before he died, would put his arms around the sisters, point at his cheek, and ask for a kiss.
Now I'm big on equality, as I will probably point out later in my posts. So I don't care who you are or how old you are. If I would have tried at 19 to get that kind of attention from the ladies, and especially at Bethel, I would without a doubt have been spoken to about how my actions are inappropriate or perhaps at the severest point, been dismissed. Now I don't crave attention by any means, but to me that just wasn't right. And I witnessed it more than once. May not be a big thing but it definitely made an impression in my mind that I just can't forget.
I was also bothered by the way some were treated by others right in front of their overseers. I talked about it with a brother and he told me in so many words, that we are imperfect and we have to accept and forgive.
That I can agree with. Except the Bethel standard is pushed so much and praised so high above the "worldly" work standards and environments that I just couldn't be satisfied with that.
So again, a small thing, but made an impression in my young mind......................................
.......................................................While I can say for the most part that I enjoyed my short stay at Bethel, I can agree with what you say you saw. I hated hearing people talk about how brother so and so is coming through so we have to do this and act this way like everything is running the way it should. I thought to my self just like I would in any other situation, so what? He's is human just like me. Why act any different? But a lot of people don't see it that way."
CoC
just, so you know.
are you keeping on the watch?
i know i am;).
all documents of important nature such as, our kingdom ministry, boe letters, forms, or other materials will now be sent only by email or private message communications.
they will not be posted out here on the board.
if someone else wants to post them, be my guest.. .. we have no other choice in this matter, and sending out confidential documents is better when it is done privately.
Atlantis, you have a PM.
naked ladies at the door!
various stages of undress, including absolutely nothing on.
my response was to be cool, go into my presentation and sneak a peek when i thought it wouldn't be noticed.
I don't think Satan is allowed to entice anyone during the ministry with the Holy Spirit being active and all during such activity.
So if they were hot, it was a blessing from above.
Otherwise, it confirms that some people in this world need a lot of help, in more ways than one. Catch my drift? LOL
CoC
i'm embarressed to no end on how long this ended up being, but i felt it all too important to leave anything out (and yes, i did delete some!
{blush} ).
my name is shauna.
BUMP
I enjoyed reading this. Maybe others will too.
CoC
[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:revision>0</o:revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:totaltime> <o:pages>1</o:pages> <o:words>108</o:words> <o:characters>617</o:characters> <o:company>shu</o:company> <o:lines>5</o:lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>724</o:characterswithspaces> <o:version>14.0</o:version> </o:documentproperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-gb</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>ja</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:enableopentypekerning /> <w:dontflipmirrorindents /> <w:overridetablestylehps /> <w:usefelayout /> </w:compatibility> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><!
[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]startfragment.
I used to be a MS with a lot of opportunities for different talks/parts at the meeting. I hated preparing for them but enjoyed giving them.
I admit that I do miss the stage. I felt comfortable. But now, I ditch a lot of assignments because I find I can no longer speak about something I don't believe in or agree with.
When I have an assignment, which is now often only a bible reading, I may do it. But generally I don't show up at the meeting that night.
And frankly, I just don't care anymore.
CoC
i'm really struggling with this.
i gave up smoking a few months back and have put on around 20lbs already.
i've gone up another dress size and i wasn't slim to begin with!
LOL Loz! It's true. It works. But it requires reading and being open minded as it seems to go contrary to what has been said by the "experts" for many years.
